DFCU Financial struck its second whole-bank deal in Florida in as many years. The Dearborn, Michigan-based credit union said Friday it would acquire Winter Park National Bank in suburban Orlando in a cash transaction that would give it added scale and continue a build-out in the Sunshine State.
It marked the 20th deal of the year involving a credit union buying a bank,
The $6.6 billion-asset DFCU in 2023 bought First Citrus Bancorporation in Tampa. It also acquired two branches from
Its bid for the $845-million asset Winter Park National would give it two branches in central Florida, one each in the Orlando suburbs of Winter Park and Longwood, and a commercial loan book.
Winter Park National "has been a cornerstone of the Central Florida financial community, and we look forward to building on their legacy," Ryan Goldberg, president and CEO of DFCU Financial, said in a press release announcing the deal.
DFCU did not disclose financial terms of the acquisition, which it expects to finalize in 2025.
The credit union said David Dotherow, CEO of Winter Park National, would join the combined organization. He would become its Central Florida president.
"Together we look forward to strengthening relationships with our clients and reaching new customers across the region," Dotherow said in the release. Winter Park National
Credit union-bank mergers have accounted for nearly a fifth of deal activity in the banking industry this year.
Mike Bell, an attorney with the law firm Honigman in Michigan who advised DFCU, is the most prolific deal broker in the credit-union M&A arena. He projected that these deals would continue at a record pace in 2025.
"I've never been busier," Bell said.
At least 100 banks this year announced plans to sell through October. Those deals carried an aggregate deal value of more than $11 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. That put volume ahead of last year's total of 98 deals. Already, total transaction value for 2024 more than doubled the $4.15 billion for all of last year.
Bell said falling interest rates and former President Trump's deregulation vows for his
The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark rate by 50 basis points in September and by
Credit union-bank deals, however, have drawn criticism. The Independent Community Bankers of America argues that credit unions are exempt from federal taxes so that they can cater to underserved consumers or remote markets. When they buy banks, they move beyond their missions and simultaneously remove tax revenue and competition from communities, the ICBA contends.
Earlier this year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which supervises a large share of the nation's small banks, approved a new statement of policy on mergers that for the first time explicitly stated additional scrutiny may be needed for deals involving credit unions.
"To remedy this increasingly concerning trend, ICBA and community bankers continue our calls for Congress to hold hearings and to consider an exit fee on credit union acquisitions of tax-paying banks to capture lost tax revenue resulting from these deals," ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said in a statement.
"This needed policy change is in line with previous banking industry reforms. In 1951, Congress revoked the tax exemption for building and loan associations, cooperative banks, and mutual savings banks, finding that these institutions operated much like commercial banks and should be taxed accordingly," she added. "Congress should investigate the outdated credit union policies and whether the government should continue subsidizing community banking consolidation."
